


Coffee and Krylon

by gayashecklmao



Category: SKAM (Norway)
Genre: Artist Even, Barista Even, M/M, Med Student Isak, Street artist au, ao3 time ig, coffee shop AU, fuck it, im gay and wrote this for class but was like, rip sorry if its shitty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-19
Updated: 2019-01-07
Packaged: 2019-09-23 00:00:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17069687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gayashecklmao/pseuds/gayashecklmao
Summary: Caught in a daydream filled with technicolor and floating spray paint cans, he doesn't hear the bell above the shops' door ring, indicating that someone has come in. Only when he hears Eva shout an unidentifiable order at him does he turn around. There before him, on the other side of the counter, is possibly one of the prettiest people he’s ever seen.The boy is just a few inches shorter than Even himself. Probably around five foot nine, he thinks. His skin is a smooth pale porcelain color that seems to allow the small pink blush to fill his cheeks and the tip of his button nose. His eyes are an emerald green, that, if you look close enough, seem to have a small tint of an ocean blue in them. His frame seems small but athletic, the word soccer runs through Even's mind as well as scenes of this boy going up and down a green field with the wind blowing his almost fluffy coffee colored hair into little tufts. The sweat on his forehead sticking some of his hair to his face along the crease of his furrowed brows.





	1. Chapter 1

All he can hear is the thump thump thump of his sneakers hitting the sidewalk’s pavement and the bump bump bump of his heart racing in his ears. Cars race around him in the streets, an ambulance can be heard three blocks away. Shoulder bones of strangers on the street collide with him as he picks up his pace. Left, left, right, stop- wait for the crosswalk- straight, left. He pushes the glass door open with an exasperating force and huffs his breath as he takes three long strides to the left side of a mahogany coffee counter at the wall adjacent to the door.

“You're late,” he hears a female's voice, with a tone of indifference, say at a table across from him.

Even cracks a small grimace of a smile as he unwinds himself from his worn old faded blue denim jacket and brown leather satchel, throwing them onto one of the hooks beside him- holding his other coworkers' things. “Yeah, I know. I'm sorry, the bus never showed,” he says to the petite middle-aged woman, with little gray hairs standing out starkly against her otherwise raven hair. Her tan skin covered in freckles and laugh lines. She huffs out a breathy laugh and then sighs. 

“Even, dear, don't let it happen again,” the woman says resignedly. 

“I promise I won't,” Even says with a small salute of his hand before he continues to tie a black apron around his waist.

Just then a red-haired girl, no older than Even, comes bustling out from behind a set of doors struggling to carry a box too big for her arms. “Bullshit,” she begins, “how come it’s always when we work together that you're late, huh Even? And Joyce, he lives literally like two blocks away,” she says, looking over to the petite woman sitting down.

“Trust me, I know,” Joyce says with a smirk as she stands from one of the many tables in the small coffee shop. She walks over to the doors the redhead came from and turns over her shoulder to the two kids. “Now get to work you two. I'm not paying you to just stand and chat with me all day,” she says and turns back, pushing the doors closed behind her.

Even turns to the redhead and smiles big, showing off his crooked front tooth. “Told you I’m her favorite,” he says with not a hint of gloating in his voice. The girl whose name tag reads as ‘Eva’ simply rolls her eyes with a laugh and turns back to lean her arms on the smooth mahogany coffee counter. The coffee shop isn’t too busy today, only two customers are in there and both are too preoccupied with their laptops and headphones to pay the workers much attention. Even has been working at “Joyce's” coffee shop for around three years, ever since he was seventeen, and Eva just as well. They grew up in the same apartment complex, going to the same school, and having the same passions- that's why they got along so well. But while Eva has ruled her passion for art as strictly a hobby and nothing else, Even considers his to be his identity. He’s been sketching and painting for as long as he’s been able to and hopes to get accepted into art school. He just needs the money first. Hence the reason he’s currently cleaning a hissing espresso machine instead of hearing the hiss of a Krylon paint can beneath his fingers. Caught in a daydream filled with technicolor and floating spray paint cans, he doesn't hear the bell above the shops' door ring, indicating that someone has come in. Only when he hears Eva shout an unidentifiable order at him does he turn around. There before him, on the other side of the counter, is possibly one of the prettiest people he’s ever seen. 

The boy is just a few inches shorter than Even himself. Probably around five foot nine, he thinks. His skin is a smooth pale porcelain color that seems to allow the small pink blush to fill his cheeks and the tip of his button nose. His eyes are an emerald green, that, if you look close enough, seem to have a small tint of an ocean blue in them. His frame seems small but athletic, the word soccer runs through Even's mind as well as scenes of this boy going up and down a green field with the wind blowing his almost fluffy coffee colored hair into little tufts. The sweat on his forehead sticking some of his hair to his face along the crease of his furrowed brows. His eyes turning left and right, then left again in confusion. His familiar feminine voice ringing out his name, “Even. Even? Ev!”--

An empty to go cup hits him directly on his left cheekbone and he is immediately brought back to the moment. Eva is turned to him with an expression, not of annoyance, on her face like he had expected to see because of his zoning out, but a look as if she knew Too Much. Even’s cheeks and ears burn with embarrassment as he stutters out an apology and asks her to repeat what she had said.

Just as Eva opens her mouth, no doubt about to call him out, the pretty boy opens his own mouth and lets out an, “I, uh, I wanted a vanilla latte,” in a soft-spoken voice that leaves an echo inside Even's mind and body. Even turns toward the auburn hair girl to see her looking at the pretty boy up in down a few times before she turns back to Even and says, “large.” 

Even gets to work by grabbing one of the empty large cups they have stacked up beside the cash register. He places it below the espresso machine and presses a smooth metallic circular button. The familiar sound of the coffee being ground up fills the otherwise emptiness of the shop as Eva goes to lean her shoulder on the wall behind them and watch Even intently. The customer walked over to an empty booth near the shops front window as soon as Even grabbed the cup. As Even froths the milk he feels the smug and wondering eyes of Eva looking at him. Exasperatedly he slams the machine off and turns to face her, a look of annoyance on his face as he exclaims a harshly whispered, “what?” 

The smirk upon the girls face seems to grow even more- if that was possible, and she says, “nothing,” in a breathy laugh of a voice that implies it’s not nothing before she continues on. “I just couldn't help but notice how cute that guy was. Wouldn't you say?” 

“Whatever,” Even replies as he grabs a lid for the cup and rounds the corner of the counter. His strides are rushed and long as he heads over to the boys both and places the drink before him. “Large vanilla latte,” he says with a smile and turns to almost jog back to his safety net of hissing steam machines and maniacal best friends/coworkers. 

“Thank you,” the pretty boy says and Even’s heart stops in his chest.

~

When Even clocks out that night, his dreams of ocean eyes and pink cheeks wake him up from his peaceful sleep. He reaches for his sketchbook tucked in the pocket of his leather satchel and flips through the colored pages to a blank one. He grunts as he moves his body out of bed and doesn't bother to look at the clock on his dresser as he heads for the door. 

He makes his way down the dimly lit and abandoned streets of his city towards a park. Even looks out to this park to see the rusted swings he played on as a little boy, not that long ago and the tree h used to paint under. He strolls his feet through the now-dewy grass towards a bench much older than himself. The graffiti covering every square inch of it tells a story, his mother says, all you have to do is look with an open heart and an open mind. 

He sits down on the bench, his back curving over himself as he opens his sketchbook and begins to draw. His pencil making the only sound in the empty park other than the birds and squirrels in the trees. The led letting his mind's own images take a physical form before him. 

Two almond-shaped eyes with long lashes fanning over the shaded in cheekbones stare back at him when he's done. 

~

Fleck Park, Landon, New York  
2007  
Kids on swings trying to get as high up as the can before they jump are everywhere. Screams of laughter and happiness fill the air around them as a missing-tooth-Even, his older sister, and his mother all rush around a tall oak tree trying to play a game of “tag.” 

“Ahaha! You're it now mom!” the smiling girl around the age of thirteen says to the older woman, both have the same blonde wavy hair as Even. The woman huffs a breath with a wide grinning face and drops her body down onto an ink-covered bench, patting the empty spots beside her signaling the two kids to come over. The two kids move from the oak tree over to where their mother is sat patiently and sit down next to her. The woman pulls out a sharpie and hands it to her daughter first. 

“Here, take this Anna. I want you to draw something you're thinking about right now. What do you wanna do after this?” she asks and points to the bench below them. 

Anna takes the marker and thinks for a second before taking the cap off and drawing what looks like a small ice cream cone. She finishes and she hands the marker to her little brother for him to go next. Even thinks for a few moments before he holds the pen in his right hand and begins to messily draw an ice cream cone much bigger than his sisters. Their mother starts to laugh and shakes her head with a smile, “Alright you two, let's go get some ice cream then.”

The three of them hop off the bench and start to walk back to the front of the park.

~

Even traces the two faded ice cream cones on the bench below him as his memory fades away and he’s brought back to the present time. His mother always encouraged a visual way of expressing yourself, growing up. And while, yes, he was only nine years old when he drew this with his mother and sister but he never thought about the immortality his creation was. Still here to this day- eleven years later- those two ice cream cones were still in the exact same place. Immortalizing the moment and memory forever.

He smiled at the thought.


	2. A Note

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even sees Isak again

The next day was pretty much the same as every other day for Even. Snooze alarm for thirty minutes, get dressed, rush to work, clock in late, joke with Eva, and nearly fall asleep when the shops having one of its slow hours. The usual weekday, really.

He’s feeling extra tired today, though. Not only because of his art escapade last night/early this morning, but because of the hours he spent awake wishing he said more than just “large vanilla latte” to the boy with ocean eyes yesterday. He knows he’ll never see him again and while it was extremely disappointing to him last night, he’s put it behind him for now. He’s only focusing on the now of his life. Hence the reason he’s trying his best not to start crying with laughter because of the extremely offbeat and just generally bad dancing Eva is doing to the radio playing a way-too-explicit-for-a-coffee-shop NWA song.

Eva’s in the middle of serenading Even with the broom in her hand when the bell above the door chimes signaling someone's arrival. Their laughter cuts off immediately and he doesn't even bother to look at who came in, he just dives behind the mahogany counter to turn the song off. “Fuck,” he whispers to himself in embarrassment. Joyce is gonna kill them. 

But then something he never imagined to happen happens. 

“Awe man, I loved that song,” a mildly familiar, sweet-like-honey voice sounds from the entrance way.

Even turns his head to see the pretty boy from yesterday standing before him smiling, once again only separated by the coffee counter, and once again being as stunning as he remembers. 

And Even once again having Eva’s look of absolute satisfaction stare into him. He flushes and so does the boy. 

“Uh, yeah. Sorry about that. A bit unprofessional,” Even chokes out with a cough, his eyes and cheeks pink with embarrassment. 

“You guys can keep playing, really, I don't mind. This probably isn't how you guys would like to be spending your day,” pretty boy says. 

Even hesitates as he walks back to the radio and turns it on again, but keeping the volume relatively low. He turns to the boy and smiles in return to his own small smile. He clears his throat. “Uhm, what can I get for you today,” he asks him. 

“A uh vanilla latte again, large,” the boy says.

And with that Even turns to grab a cup and get to work (and if he focuses a bit too much on the foam heart he makes he’ll simply say it's because of his love for art). Even grabs a lid and a napkin and heads over to where the boy sat down, the same booth as yesterday. He gently places the cup in front of the boy and says, “be careful, it's hot,” and goes to walk away, once again hearing a quiet “thank you.”

From that point on the coffee starts to pick up more people- regulars and people just wanting a coffee to go on with their day. With it just being Eva and Even working they don't really have time to talk and Evens too caught up in coffee beans to notice the pretty boy leave. Only when he goes over to clean the wall of booths does he see that he’s left, and in his spot lays the napkin Even had handed him with something written on it. Something seven numbers long. A phone number. And not Evens phone number. He’s totally not freaking out as he picks up the thin piece of napkin and reads the note goes with it- 

 

‘ Hi! Sorry if this is too straight forward but did you maybe wanna get coffee sometime?? Shit nvm you work here ur probably tired of coffee. Do you maybe want to go out sometime in general? I've noticed you painting at the park before and i'd love to see what you do. Just let me know i guess! Sorry again for being so forward haha!   
-Isak ’

 

Isak. 

Isak, he thinks with a smile, his mouth forming the name but with no sound coming out. He gently folds the piece of napkin back up and slides it into his front right pocket. He gets back to cleaning the tables but his smile stays on the entire time. And it stays on the rest of his shift too. A few hours later as Eva and him are cleaning up and getting ready to leave, the smile still rests upon his face, its small but its there. And so after hours of confusingly looking at Even only to see the same smile there no matter what, Eva breaks.

“Okay what the heck is going on. You've had the same damn smirk all day. What'd I miss, is there something on my face?” She asks him hastily.

“What?” Even asks, confused, not having realised how chipper he had been since seeing the note that pretty boy-Isak- left him. 

“You heard me, seriously, what's up. Isak make your heart beat one too many times or something” she says again. 

At this Even flushes and mutters a quiet “nothing” before getting back to wiping down the coffee steamers and then pauses. “Wait, how do you know his name?”

“Ha! I freaking knew it!” She exclaims, “and we go to the same college. I think he’s studying med,” she finishes. 

Studying medicine, huh? Even thinks, a doctor whose interests include graffiti artist baristas and vanilla lattes. 

“What’d he do, write you a love letter with our sugar packets,” Eva teases jokingly but Even flushes an even darker shade of red at the reminder of the note in his pocket. “Oh my god,” she exclaims, “he totally did!”

“I don’t know what you're talking about,” Even says dismissively as he walks to go grab his denim jacket and satchel, ready to clock out for the night. He slips his arms in the sleeves and is in the middle of ducking his head under the strap of his bag as Eva asks him to please see it. To be honest he’s really glad she asked because he doesn't quite know what to do. Was he asking to go on a date or was he just interested in his art? So he pulls the folded napkin out of his pocket and hands it to her to read. 

“Oh fuck, you gotta text him. He’s totally into you!” She exclaims excitedly. 

Even just ducks his head and smiles. He’s definitely gonna text him.


	3. first date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im sorry im so mcfreakin off schedule- ur boy has depression

~  
Hey this is Even, from Joyce 's. Thank you btw haha not a lot of people are street art fans. And yeah I'd love to get a coffee or talk art or idk do something together sometime. Just let me know :)

~  
Its three days later when they decide to meet up. Even’s working a morning shift with Elias and they agreed the weather was in their favor to get a cup of coffee and go out to the park. 

The air is cool enough to see his breath as Even exhales a laugh at what Isak had said. The graffitied bench is chilled beneath them and the sun is shining through the trees branches down onto the two boys. The sounds of birds chirping on the cities power lines and the hustle of cars racing past surrounds them as background noise to their conversation.  
Isak talks with his hands a lot, that’s something Even notices right off the bat. When Isak gets excited his ears flush and he waves his hands around to emphasise what he’s saying. Right now he’s going on an almost rant about one of his professors.

 

“And then she just left,” he ends with a huff.

 

“What do you mean she ‘just left’,” Even repeats, a confused look on his face as he turns to Isak.

 

“Exactly what I said, she just left the room! We all just sat there in case she came back but nothing happened. We were so still that the light sensors literally turned off on us all,” he says.

 

“Jesus,” Even says with a laugh.

 

“Tell me about,” Isak smiles, “so,” he clears his throat, “I haven't seen you on campus. Are you in college right now or?”

 

Evens smile falters as he asks this. His throat is tight as he says, “uh, no, I'm not.” There is a tension between the two boys after he says this, a tension that hasn't been there before. They sit in silence for a few beats each just staring at each other- Isak with a look of confusion and Even with a look of shame. 

 

Even coughs away the feeling of sandpaper in his throat as looks Isak in his eyes as he says, “I don't really have the money for it. I'm kind of broke as shit as it is, even working everyday. I'm hoping to get in on a scholarship for art but it’s gotta be a pretty good scholarship.”

 

“Oh!” Isak exclaims, “so art is more than a hobby for you? If I'm being honest I'm kind of a huge fan of what I’ve seen.”

 

Even blushes at this. The tension between them seeps away and the two talk for another hour in the cold city air. 

~

It's 2:16 am and Even is back in the park where his art started, the park of his childhood, and the park of his date with Isak. Isak. His ocean green eyes are running through his mind again and he needs to see it. He needs to make sure everyone can see what those eyes hold. He opens his brown leather bag and pulls out a cold metal krylon paint can. It’s almost ritualistic as he glides over to a cement wall leading to a flower bed. He brushes away some loose mulch and pops the cans top off. His index finger presses down on the nozzle and the can releases a quiet hiss as well as the images in Matty’s mind. 

 

He’s working on adding the last touch of eyelashes to his work when a flashlight shines over him.

 

“Police, stop what you're doing.”

 

The cold metal of his paint can is replaced by the cold metal of handcuffs as he’s placed in the back of a cop car. 

 

The dark night sky of his cities park is replaced by the fluorescent lights of the police station.

 

The person he calls is Eva, she’s always been there when he needs him. Always. He needs her now. He’s been working since he was seventeen and he can still barely afford his apartment. His fine is five hundred dollars for vandalism, in retrospect it should be fine to pay it, but with his hospital bills still needing to be paid off, he's been especially tight. If he cant pay it he doesn't know what he’ll do. So that’s exactly what he tells her. 

 

The sounds of her choked cries of fear and anger at him for getting caught echo in his mind as she tries to come up with a way to get the money. After a few minutes of sniffling she tells him to get some sleep and she promises it will be okay tomorrow. Even apologizes to her and hangs up. He walks to a corner of the room and slides down the cement wall. Placing his head in his hands, he waits for morning to come.


	4. the finale

For the following week after his arrest, something in Even changed. He didn’t make trips to the park anymore- not at night and not during the day. The only places he went to were his apartment and to Joyces to work. He didnt turn on hiphop with Eva during slow days and his smile never quite reached his eyes. Even hasn't seen his ocean eyes since that night either. He hasn't texted him. If Evens being honest with himself he doesn't quite know what he would say. ‘Sorry I never texted you, I got arrested because I couldn't stop thinking about your eyes after our first date’ didn’t sound creepy or odd at all. And in his defense, Isak hasn't been in the cafe to see him, either. Sure, he’s tried texting Even, he left a few hopeless voicemails on his cell, but he never stepped back into the cafe.

 

Eva is in the process of trying to kill the line that they have for some reason. 

 

Its eight o'clock pm, Even thought, does everyone in this city never plan to sleep?

 

Evens currently hiding from the eccentric line of people and just focussing on cleaning the tables before him, keeping his left hand in the front pocket of his apron, he crosses two fingers and wishes for two things. 

 

That all customers just leave already so he can go on with his night. And 

That Isak walks through their front door and accepts him and all his quirks for what they are. Just Even. 

He closes his eyes for a second and when he opens them- nothing has changed. His heart still beat his mind and left him in even more dbt and even more heartbreak. And the hustle and bustle or Joyce's coffee shop as still ever so present. 

 

He straightens his back out and lets out a short sigh. He turns over his shoulder and walks towards the mahogany counter to help Eva. 

 

The line of people are soon gone, much to the relief of the workers, and by ten till nine, it's just Eva and Even in the coffee shop. Both exhausted by the days events, barely speak and just focus on trying to clean as fast as they can. But when they hear the front doorbell chime, signaling someone's entrance, they both sigh. It’s not until Even turns to the door and begins with an ‘what can I get you today?’ does his mind bring him back to the present moment. Only getting as far as

 

“What can I-” 

 

Before Even see’s him. There before him, on the other side of the counter, is possibly one of the prettiest people he’s ever seen. Isak.

 

“Hey,” he smiles towards Even, “I was hoping we could have that second date?”  
Even smiles back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I just want to thank you for reading this and commenting and liking and literally everything. I appreciate it so much and hope to write more even if I don't think its Vonnegut quality. :) thanks a bunch - Austin


End file.
